WIREDGOV

Employers have pledged to do more to support disabled jobseekers after an event held by Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson.

The event, which took place in Swindon on 23 October, is part of the government’s Disability Confident initiative which seeks to open employers’ eyes to the wealth of untapped talent available among disabled people.

Pledges have now been made by a variety of local employers who recognise the business benefits of hiring a diverse workforce. These include:

• Nationwide Building Society increasing the number of disabled candidates applying for their job roles, and maximising accessibility and inclusiveness at offices
• McDonalds offering work placements for disabled people in a new restaurant branch
• MLL Print ensuring that their next employee is recruited through a disability employment organisation

Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, said

This was the first ever Reverse Jobs Fair and the turnout was fantastic. 70 employers turned up to hear the value disabled people can play in growing their business.

I want to see events like this up and down the country. We will follow up on all the pledges to ensure that real, tangible job opportunities are created for disabled jobseekers.

Disabled people have the talent; it’s about giving them the chance to show it.

The event – a ‘Reverse Jobs Fair’ – trialled a new format where local employers, rather than jobseekers, gathered to discuss their specific recruitment needs. This innovative approach was developed with the support of specialist disability work-providers Pluss and Shaw Trust. The goal of the ‘Reverse Jobs Fair’ is to meet the demands of employers and create lasting employment opportunities for disabled people.

Several hundred people attended the event, which was well received for the positive outcomes the event was set up to create.

Martin Kelly, disability services consultant, said:

The Disability Confident ‘Reverse Jobs Fair’ has been very informative, very useful. It is a really good start to developing formative relationships between organisations who work with disabled people, employers and employees.

I’m now much more confident in the Disability Confident concept and believe if we build from what we’ve been able to do with this event we can start to make inroads into that employment gap where disabled people are less likely to be employed than non-disabled people.

Simon Billington, from social enterprise Seqol, said:

We’ve been able to extend our reach to businesses we wouldn’t have usually been able to. This event far exceeded our expectations.

Andrew Hargreaves, Group Manager, Service Delivery (Response) at Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, said:

I found the event extremely helpful and it provided me with a wealth of information about a good number of organisations. I was able to speak directly to key people about how they can assist Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service in its efforts to be a supportive employer of people with widely differing needs.

I brought away some key contacts that enable our service to be far more proactive in its engagement with our diverse community.

Following the Disability Confident event the Minister for Disabled People has been inundated with requests from other MPs, all of whom want to know how they can replicate the success in their own constituency.

While 339,000 more disabled people have moved into employment since the launch of Disability Confident, there is still a huge gap between the employment rate of disabled and non-disabled people. The government has set a target to halve the gap, getting a million more disabled people into work.

More information

The government’s Disability Confident campaign has been running since July 2013, when it was launched by the Prime Minister at the national Disability Employment Conference. Since then over 350,000 more disabled people have found employment and continue to make a vital contribution to the economy.

The working age disability employment rate in the UK is 45.9%, compared to the non-disabled employment rate of 79.4%. The Disability Employment gap is therefore 33.5%.

Both Shaw Trust and Pluss co-hosted the event with the Minister for Disabled People.

Shaw Trust is an employment, learning and skills charity with over 30 years’ experience of helping disabled and disadvantaged jobseekers realise their work ambitions. Their vision is for a society in which everyone has the right to employment, inclusion and independence and they help over 50,000 people a year on their journey into work.

Pluss is an award winning Social Enterprise that supports thousands of people with disabilities and other disadvantages to achieve work and a career. They operate across the UK and passionately believe that people with disabilities make excellent employees; as a social firm over half their 500 employees have a disability. They are also a proud national partner of the DWP’s Disability Confident campaign.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 0203 267 5124

Press Office

Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA

London Press Office (national media and London area enquiries only – not questions about personal claims) 020 3267 5144

Out-of-hours (journalists only) 076 59 108 883

England and Wales (local media enquiries) 029 20 586 then 097 or 098 or 099

Scotland (local media enquiries) 0131 310 1122

Follow DWP on:

• Twitter – www.twitter.com/dwppressoffice
• Facebook – www.facebook.com/dwp
• LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/dwp
• YouTube – www.youtube.com/dwp